Thursday 12 December 2019 4:41 pm

Prince Andrew’s Pitch@Palace scheme loses third director

Prince Andrew’s embattled Pitch@Palace initiative suffered another blow as a third director resigned from the company.

German-born David Stern, a private investor, is listed as having quit both Pitch@Palace and its international sister, Pitch@Palace Global, on 9 December.

On 19 November fellow directors Hanadi Jabado and Mark Eaves also left the entrepreneurial scheme, which seeks to pair start-ups with potential investors.

The Duke of York’s initiative has been in freefall since a number of prominent businesses ended their partnerships with the organisation in the aftermath of the Duke’s disastrous Newsnight interview concerning his friendship with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

Well-known firms such as KPMG, Barclays, Bosch, Standard Chartered and Inmarsat all stopped their sponsorship of the programme.

After initial suggestions that he would continue to be involved in the programme, it was confirmed that Prince Andrew had stepped down too.

A source close to the discussions told City A.M. the Duke had decided to “back away” from Pitch@Palace and was “no longer involved” with the scheme.

Buckingham Palace denied the Duke had quit the scheme, but City A.M. understands that this is incorrect.

Despite the damage, Pitch@Palace has continued, with the latest edition of Pitch@Palace Global’s entrepreneurs of the year held last night at the Corinthia hotel in central London.

Jelly Drops, which makes hydrating sweets for people with dementia, Soldier.Ly, a stress management programme for veterans and civilians, and medtech enterprise Testcard were named the winners.

According to the Times, Pitch@Palace chief executive Amanda Thirsk, who stepped down as the Duke’s private secretary after the interview, sent a message to guests saying that the event had been moved from Buckingham Palace at the last minute “due to the General Election.”

Pitch@Palace has been contacted for comment.